Cultivating Steadily while Seizing the Time to Save Sentient Beings

By a practitioner from Jilin Province

(Clearwisdom.net) I began to practice Falun Dafa in 1999 but lost my bearings during the first few months after the persecution started. After careful consideration I picked up the Falun Dafa books again, and I realized the magnificence and solemnness of cultivation. I'd like to share the experiences of my cultivation in recent years.

My personal cultivation time was very short. However, I paid great attention to my Fa study. When I first learned Falun Dafa I would usually read Zhuan Falun from cover to cover in only a day or two. Even when I was extremely busy I still managed to read at least one lecture a day at group Fa study. In recent years, as my relatives and fellow practitioners read the Fa and I recited it with them, I was even able to tell when they made a mistake in their reading. I felt as if there was a copy of Zhuan Falun in my mind and I read with them page by page. Studying the Fa in a down-to-earth manner helped me to lay a very solid foundation for my cultivation. I did not get attached to the Fa principles to which I had enlightened; I would constantly upgrade my enlightenment in the advancement of the Fa rectification and my personal improvement. Whenever an issue came up, I would try to think of how it related to the Fa and rectify all of my thoughts.

After a few years of constant "truth clarification" and sending forth the righteous thoughts, my family members no longer opposed Dafa as vehemently as they did at the beginning of the persecution. Of course, under the intense pressure of the Chinese Communist Party, their support would waiver. In other words, they did not fully agree with Falun Dafa. On one occasion my mother clarified the truth to the driver from my elder brother's new job. The driver reported it to the leaders of his workplace, who summoned my brother and talked to him about it. On returning home, my brother asked my mother not to clarify the truth to people from his workplace again. He said that his employment was not really secure yet. He also mentioned that if my mother was arrested, he would not help to get her out. Listening to his remarks, my mother and I looked inward and let go of our fear. I thought if we listened to what my brother had said and stopped clarifying the truth, it would put him in the position of interfering with the Fa rectification, so it would not be good for him. If he supported our work of clarifying the truth to save sentient beings, he would be rewarded with blessings and there would certainly not be any adverse affects. I firmly believe in Teacher's Fa that during the process of cultivation, what we lose is nothing but karma. If something is mine I will not lose it; likewise for my family members. When my righteous thoughts were very strong, my brother stopped interfering with our truth-clarification. We clarified the truth to all his friends that we met and he did not stop us. Not long after, his job transfer order was approved and his job was then secure.

One day my elder brother went traveling by air. My mother asked him to wear an amulet (1). My brother asked, "If this really worked, why have you been arrested twice?" At the time my mother had nothing to say in reply. I said, "The Fa has different standards for us because we are practitioners. You only need to remember 'Falun Dafa is good' and you will be safe. That is to say, you only need to be able to draw a line between good and evil. As for practitioners, the evil will take advantage if our thoughts are not that righteous. When Tang Sanzang (a principle figure in the Journey to the West) went to the West to obtain Buddhist Sutra, the demons and ghosts caught him several times in an attempt to steam him and then eat him up. Normal people would not come across this kind of suffering. The difference is that, at the end of the day, practitioners will obtain Fruit Status, while everyone else will not." My brother knew that I had been doing Fa-clarification work and that I had never had any trouble. He accepted the amulet. Thereafter, I talked a bit more about the wonders that happened to some practitioners and me. It showed that righteous thoughts and actions can negate persecution. I used this to do away with the horror created by the CCP so that righteous belief could be fostered.

In the past year my father was not in good health and needed care. This affected the time my mother and I had to go out and clarify the truth. I consulted with my husband and asked him to look after my father. My mother also let go of her attachment to money and decided to pay someone to look after my father. That way my husband could earn some money while looking after my father.

This is my second marriage. When we got married, I had only one request: my husband must support my Fa study. Over the years I set very strict standards for myself and let go of attachments for fame, gain, and jealousy. According to my old notions, I thought a husband should earn more money than a wife to support the family. Although my husband did not have a proper job, he was very picky about jobs and there were many that he refused to do. I was quite bothered by this at the time. I eventually let go of the attachment through constant Fa study. My husband kept reading the truth-clarification materials, which changed him a lot. He quit smoking, drinking, and gambling. He was more truthful than he had been in the past. Sometimes when I failed to maintain my xinxing and argued with my mother, he would mediate and ask me to look inside myself and learn to be more patient. Sometimes I would do truth-clarification work until very late, and he never interfered with me or had any complaint. When I was not doing well, he would express a concern that I would not reach consummation. If I was doing well, he would say with admiration that I would reach consummation pretty soon and he would also learn Falun Dafa. We clarified the truth to all his relatives that we visited. We also tried to persuade and help them to quit the Chinese Communist Party and its subordinate organizations.

My parents lived with my elder brother and sister-in-law. I maintained a state of mind a practitioner should have and tried to help with the household chores as much as I could. When conflicts occurred, I would not take my brother's side but tried to be impartial and solve the problem fairly. After some time my sister-in-law began to learn Falun Dafa and helped dozens of people to quit the CCP.

After the persecution started, the Party secretary from my workplace talked to me. I stated very clearly that, as a practitioner I would think of other people and I would not make trouble for the leaders of my workplace; however, I had my freedom of belief. I told them, as leaders of my workplace, that they should not have their hands in my private life. I explained clearly that if I were asked if I practiced Falun Dafa, I would not answer. I negated the persecution arranged by the old forces at work with my wisdom. Later I was transferred a new section. At work I followed the principles of "Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance." I was not greedy and never tried to profit at other people's expense. I never talked behind other people's backs and never gossiped. The two heads of the section both supported me. When I clarified the truth to the people I came across at work, they would also help me. Now all the people in my section have quit the CCP and its subordinate organizations.

a. No matter what we do we should not forget to clarify the truth and save sentient beings. In clarifying the truth we should treat people from all professions equally, including the policemen and judges. We should not divide people into "can" or "cannot clarify the truth to" beforehand. We would receive better results if we clarified the truth without any preconceived notions. In prison or forced labor camps we should not be controlled by evil and should not cooperate with the evildoers. We must negate the persecution by sending forth righteous thoughts beforehand.

b. We must let go of selfishness and think about others. In 2003, we went to Heizuizi Women's Forced Labor Camp to rescue fellow practitioners. We were waiting at the entrance to the guards' office to meet the head of the forced labor camp. We rushed inside the camp once the guard was distracted. When we went up the third floor we found the deputy head of the camp, who was having a meeting. She sternly questioned us as to how we got there and why the guard let us in. I thought that, among the guards there were people that sympathized with Falun Dafa, so I said we got in by chance and it had nothing to do with the guard. She never followed up on the matter.

On another occasion when we went to a procuratorate in Jilin Province, we were waiting for the deputy-attorney general. One female procurator tried to drive us out when she learned that we were there to report Falun Gong issues. Our conversation attracted the attention of the attorney general. We clearly explained the issues to him and he asked his subordinates to handle our issues. Before leaving he asked us to forgive the female procurator's attitude. At the time I thought that, as a great enlightened being, I would not give her attitude any thought. We did not have enemies. Therefore I said, "The people here are all kind to us. Thank you very much!" I noticed the surprise on the female procurator's face. My forgiveness really shocked her. As we left, the janitor saw us off. At the elevator she did heshi to us to bid us farewell.

As early as 2003, I often contacted the fellow practitioners at a material site and occasionally I would lend my support to the work. Since I was a bit selfish and did not want to contribute, I waited for something that was ready-made. In recent years I donated two computers, one printer, one multi-function printer, and one CD burner. I actually turned myself into a purchaser. During the process I let go of my fear mentality as well as the mentalities of dependence and comfort seeking. At the beginning of this year I set up a material site of my own. I learned to operate everything by myself and discovered that everything was very simple and the things that I did not know were all easily solved with Teacher's help. It really demonstrated "Cultivation depends on oneself, while gong depends on one's master." ("Lecture 4" of Zhuan Falun) As a matter of fact, all that I needed was nothing more than a wish. It took me a long time to enlightened to this Fa principle. That was a big delay in truth-clarification. As for the funds, there was no problem for us at all. The evildoers withheld two and a half years of my mother's salary. With help from fellow practitioners, we went to her workplace and 610 Office several times to request the return of her salary. The evildoers handed over her withheld salary, and she now receives her salary regularly. In recent years we have spent nearly 100,000 yuan (nearly 14,000 US dollars) on truth-clarification materials.

Practitioners who have their own respective strong points cooperated very well and helped several thousand people to quit the CCP and its subordinate organizations in recent years. Among my strong points, I have a clear understanding of Fa principles, I have less fear mentality, and I am good at expressing myself. I often clarify the truth on the train, public buses, and taxis. Once on public transport I sit where there are more people so that more people can hear me. Whenever my fear mentality appears, I eliminate it right away and then continue to do whatever I should do. Previously I thought that the old forces were at a lower level than I. Now my view is that it is not the difference of level that separates us, but that we are not in the same cosmic system. The great enlightened beings of the new cosmos had nothing to do with the old forces. What I am doing now is to save the great beings from high level cosmic bodies, not everyday people, in the name of a lord or king of a new universe.

At this time of the Fa rectification in the cosmos, let's do away with our attachments as soon as possible to save more sentient beings and fulfill our grand wish!

Note:

(1) Amulet -- In China, practitioners sometimes clarify the truth by giving people something small to wear or cherish, bearing a few words reminding them of the goodness of Dafa.

Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2007/12/30/169303.html

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